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I'm tipping no change but if there's going to be one, it might be Melksham for Wagner. This game, like almost all of the remaining 14 games this year, comes down almost entirely to us. If we play at our best, we will win. Last week showed that our best is good enough to beat any opponent, anywhere. However, if we don't play out our best, North is good enough to beat us. Would dearly love to have a dominant first quarter, kill some nerves off, get a nice lead going, and get a confident feeling that we've come with the right mindset against our last remaining "bogey team".

I just get the feeling with Hannan that he could be close to a breakout game. The confidence he would get from that could be career changing for him. He has some tricks. He can take a grab, kick one in a pack, is not slow and has a bit of height. We haven't seen his best, but the real question will be, is his best good enough.

This pearl of wisdom is from the North page on Bigfooty. "I think an agressive Preuss in the middle might actually rattle the Melbourne midfield, especially him crashing in against Oliver and Viney when the ball hits the deck." hahahahahahahahahahahahaha, I nearly fell off my chair reading that. Clearly the poster has never actually watched Viney play!

Hate it. Stop [censored] with the rules. I'm not conservative when it comes to most things, but when my football is involved I am.

Absolutely, personally I'm an interstate member based in Brisbane, so some years like this year I don't get the opertunity to watch a game using my membership (unless I was to travel to Melbourne to watch us at the mighty G). I actually rejoined the MFC membership after one of our atrocious losses to West Coast in 2010?/11? on the basis that I thought it was when the club needed my support most. All serious supporters of the MFC should have some kind of club membership (personal finances permitting). Of course, one of the highlights being a Northern member was watching the mighty Demons smash the Suns up here last year on the Gold Coast - was one of the biggest wins I witnessed over the last half decade or so. Most times I have traveled to Melbourne and watched us there, we loose, so I think it's in the best interests of all that I just stay up here when we play!!

For the love of god, when will we learn. Lets worry about getting over North first. Week to week prospect and if we make the 8. Then we can see where we are at

Im not one to get sucked in by trade rumours but an Essendon supporter posted a couple of interesting posts in regards to Zac Jones and few other. Apparently he has very close contacts at the Dees and i think he was the same bloke that was also harping on Hibberd our prime target around August. Anyway here are some of his post. Melbourne heavily into him. Very confident that he'll play in red and blue next year. His brother is a nice part of it but that's down on the list for Melbourne. He's the #1 target for you guys this year, will mostly be played off HB if you do get him. And then on Daniel Mcstay Melbourne are interested in him. Probably #3 on their list right now. Also there was a little comment on Jake Lever who he said that we were hugely into but were inform that he was set to sign soon. And then this comment.. Oh, Lever was your #1 target. Your list management team have identified 2 places where you can push ahead of the pack: outside players with pace (Jones in is to push Hunt further up the field) and a 3rd tall player with intercept skills. McStay is currently second on the list there, behind someone north of the Murray. The talent you have on your list is fantastic. Just to repeat that this was a passionate Essendon who apparently has strong links to the MFC.

just creeping along. might be a spike signing up at the game on sunday 40,549

Wagner is the future, Melksham is not. Play Wagner every single time.

it was in the context of player banter and the whole murphy thing. he said he thought the back chat was pointless I'm sure he would be vocal in getting players into position etc

The Essendrug saga. Sledging someone's wife during play. Gambling in sport. Racism in sport. Too much effing $ in sport. But no, let's tackle the big issues. I know, what about a wildcard round leading into the finals? I reckon the Richmond match committe have dreamt this up to give them a chance at winning a final. It is an appalling idea with little merit, and robs the game of the equilisation they have worked so hard to produce. Is Gil actually fit to lead this great game?

Just watched Lewis on AFL360 Talked about running through the Crows' midfielders at the start of the game, and letting them know they would be targeting Sloane - bit of a shove. Said they went out to target Hawthorn last week, but failed utterly, so he took it upon himself to lead the way, 'cos that's what leaders to. Over the past years, Hawthorn had a few players who would do that - Mitchell Hodge Lewis Roughhead Rioli Burgoyne for starters. I'll be interested to see a similar mindset develop at the Dees, Lewis is scary.

What is funnier is that Preuss is not playing

This is the key. Dropping games we should win or were in a winning position will bury our finals chances. Despite suffering from MFCSS this is the first time in a long time, perhaps ever in my 40 years a Demon, that I believe we can genuinely beat any team we come up against. Having said that my eternal pessimism also leads me to believe that we can lose to any team in the competition. I should seek therapy. Our win against Adelaide means nothing if we cannot back it up.

This thread is exactly the reason we could cough up the game on Sunday. Please stop it.

We need to adopt such unsociableness

No change! Players fought hard for Adel win and deserve to have another go together.

And they are too silly to see that 18 healthy viable clubs will make them more money int eh long run, even if they have to take a hit for a few years while it evens out a little. The AFL only seem to be able to see slightly further into the future than our pollies!

Acid test this week. We just have to win at least two of our next three and then go to another level when we get Gawn and Hoges back.

[censored] you all! Woops. Sorry. Spending so much time on a, largely, anonymous internet football fan forum has left me desensitized and confused about realities and proper social conventions

I would lose it. I've talked a lot of sh*t in my time, but that is the kind of thing that would finally tip me over the edge! The idea that a team who has not been good enough all season to make finals, can have a good week or two right at the end and take the finals place of a team that has learnt if over the course of a full season of pathetic. A team should be rewarded for playing well over a full season, not 1-2 weeks. Imagine if Melbourne finished 7th, then played off in a "wildcard" match against 10th. Imagine 10th is West Coast and we have to fly to WA to play them. Under the current more fair system and fixture that is already in place, and we would've been scheduled to play Brisbane who are 17th in Melbourne. During that match we suffer injuries such as Hogan and Gawn going down, leaving us 2 men down on the bench, and then had an umpire makes an incorrect or debatable decision at the end of a game that gives West Coast the win. Due to that loss we could potentially go from 7th and playing finals, to out of the 8 and not playing finals. It's a sh*t idea used to generate hype and creates an unfair fixture. We need to keep the game the way it is and stop copying other sports to generate hype at the expense of a fair system. It's already unbalanced to favour certain teams/areas, we shouldn't tip the scales even further. I don't want it to degenerate into Baseketball (as fun as that movie is).

I have spent some time in SA. Generally its a very like-able place. Some observations: It has a different culture to Vic and that include's football culture. It is more parochial than Vic. Locals are encouraged to buy SA goods. There is a much stronger focus on jobs for SA. Melbourne and Vic tends to be left out of the news particularly footy news. It's Crows and Port news but little or no coverage of other clubs. SA has a stronger footy culture than Vic. The minor leagues including country leagues are much stronger than Vic. If you go to a league such as the Greater Southern Football League, most towns have a team and strong depth in colts/juniors. The standard of football is better than in Vic. The competition is tough but not as dirty as local Victorian leagues and I would say that matches are conducted in a much better spirit than in Victoria. You are expected to do the right thing. There is less competition with the other sports, such as soccer and rugby etc. Similarly for girls, netball is huge. South Aussies are more polite, courteous and private than Victorians. They tend to be less overtly critical and do not gossip about one another. Interaction/communication tends to be circuitous and less direct. This can be very frustrating as conversations take longer and can be very indirect. You don't necessarily get an answer to your question first up or you don't ask the question first up. There is the feeling that everyone knows everyone and networks go back over many generations. Like a small country town, you need to be careful what you say. There is clearly less ethnic diversity and people are more homogeneous. There are more rules and etiquette is observed. Sometimes rules are observed, sometimes not, and sometimes etiquette is more important than the rules. There is the sense of either being an insider or an outsider. If you come from Victoria, you are clearly an outsider. There are things you will never know or never be told because you are an outsider. There is a stronger divide than in Melbourne between those that are part of the old establishment and the rest. The quiet unstated sense of superiority from old Adelaide, particularly if you went to one of the establishment private schools such as St Peters or PAC, is very strong and influences social groupings and jobs. This sense of superiority tends to be more strongly displayed by Crows supporters than PA supporters. They expect to win all the time and there is less resilience to defeat. Just look at recent weeks. They would not have been able to comprehend a loss to Melbourne last week. At local footy games, supporters are very polite to one another and there is less baiting of opposition supporters, even where the supporters look as feral as anywhere else. In regard to footy there are different groupings. There are the Crows and PA supporters. As everyone knows they hate one another, and that hatred has stronger roots than the Vic rivalries. And often the hatred between the two SA clubs is stronger than hatred for Vic clubs. Crows and PA supporters still hate interstate clubs. Kick a Vic is still often talked about, probably stemming from the old days of interstate footy, when Victoria dominated the competition and when many ex-SA footballers played for VFL sides and indeed for the VFL state side. Many South Aussies think that Victorians behave in an arrogant, and sometimes rude or superior manner. Many South Aussies also support a side in the SANFL. Many South Aussies have a soft spot for a Vic club, probably as a result of the old days of state based leagues. A minority of South Aussies support a Vic club over a local club. I met quite a lot of Demon fans in SA. I have probably made many generalizations and my comments are perhaps loosely formed opinions. However, if nothing else there are major differences between South Aussies and Victorians and this is reflected in many things including footy.

I thought 5-8 was the wildcard.

I'll settle for Clarry winning the Norm Smith instead

You're talking about a supporter-base which was famously known at the time as the 'Chardonnay Club'? I was a Footy Park member from the AFL get-go, and I always felt that the 40,000 Crows supporters would get quite easily intimidated by a very small contingent of toothless Pies or Tigers fans. Never saw any biffo whatsoever in all my years of attending, and find it bizarre that people are talking of a threatening environment. We Crow-eaters are are odd and inbred lot, but beside a mass-murderer here and there and the ultra-perverted underground criminal elite, we're hardly what could be described as menacing.

Was in the hill with the Ferals and he a great time. Plenty of banter, especially early when they still thought they had a chance, got very quiet after half time.. they did.

Time to replace Gillon McLachlan.

No. [censored] off. Leave the game alone

It was a pretty obvious joke, we'll give him the benefit of the doubt on this one, love your work Titus, I know you're reading (taking notes).

Me thinks some might be just getting a little ahead of themselves here

Absolutely no chance. There will be a token minute or two on his football career. He might even mention he played for Melbourne. It will be about his gambling addiction, as Febey's was about his alcahol and drug issues and Balls was about snotting Terry The Tan Wallace. It shits me to tears. It's the same format every time - brief mention of footy career, then Mike apologises for revisiting whatever the controversy* is or was, or promises to just briefly touch on it and that's it. The whole show is then about said issue. They then return to the player's football career in the last minute of the show, if that. *There are, of course, former players who see 'Open Mike' as an opportunity to draw attention to their issue/cause and rightfully so, but there are others who would like to be remembered for their footy.

You have absolutely no idea, whatsoever, what you are talking about.

Just chardonnay mate. And no one throws away 5c refunds on bottles like that.

I cant help but feel this thread is a case of: "premature congratulations "

He will. Took balls of steel to overlook him for Oliver at the time. Absolutely correct decision though. Superb judgement call by JT.

Wags injured? Otherwise I couldn't see him coming out. 2 weeks in after missing plenty of footy, they'll give him a couple more to adjust. He missed some simple targets on the weekend but he got to plenty of contests and looked ok.

I reckon Maxy must be reading Demonland. Gawn aims for round 12 return "Gawn was also confident teammate Jesse Hogan, who was diagnosed with testicular cancer last week, would make a full recovery after a successful operation on Tuesday. 'It's a bit of a whirlwind for us as well, as much as it as for him,' he said of Hogan."

I posted in the preview thread that IMO every game we play this year is going to be decided based on our performance. Our best football is top 4, maybe top 2 quality. It really is. We showed that last week. But it's been 11 years since we went on a run where we consistently produced our best, or near our best, for a month or more in a row. Unless and until that happens, we are not a contender for finals, let alone a flag. Beating North this week is the start, but then we get Gold Coast and Collingwood either side of the bye. This thread will have a lot more impetus if we're 7-4 at the end of that period, on a 4-game winning streak and in the thick of the finals race.

I was at the game in 2015 when we beat them, and Bernie tagged Danger. I was very impressed by the Adelaide supporters that night. As I was leaving my seat for the exit, quite a few Adelaide supporters saw the Demon scarf and said " good on ya, mate, they played well!" There was absolutely no aggro. I've been to about half a dozen Melb games in Adelaide, and have never had a problem with their fans. I hope our supporters can be good sports too!(after yelling their lungs out during the games!) I really like the entertainment there, too.

This thread now has a poll because I needed a new homepage poll and polls don't lie.

It's like they're trying to turn the sport into BASEketball

Oh no. This is going to be reality. It is an awful idea..

Innovation for innovations commercial gain sake. .. ugh.

My mates refer to Waite as a sanitary item, in for one week and out for three.

I was sitting on the western side of adelaide oval center wing the Adelaide supporters around me were fine they just thought it was another game they were going to win by 10 goals. The usual smart arse comments about draft picks etc very polite arrogance I'd like to call it, had my cousin ask me if I was having a gd time when the crows piled on 6 in a row it was all gd everyone was having a jolly old time,until the 2nd half that is. They started turning on each other also asking each other what's wrong with the team etc. With each passing melb goal my screams were getting louder and louder especially when clarry nailed from the betts pocket I had people turning around a looking at me thinking how dare u but that just fueled the fire this was a release of pent up frustration we've all carried to years. The started leaving in their droves the 1st we kicked in the 4th I got up had a look around and ask 'where a you going this isn't what supporters do' by that stage I was center stage non of the supporters could look at me because they knew we had bullied them on their on patch humiliated them. All this crap about this lady saying the chap involved started swearing I listened to the lady on 5aa this morning she admitted when the presenters pressed her for info that the man only swore once load of crap this is. At the end of the day Melb supporters all had the last laugh.

I must say I hate it when I see Dees fans bring in opposition fan guests into my Melbourne "only" area. Especially if we lose. If we win then I love it.

The best way to keep salary cap space is to stop offering ridiculous contracts to blokes like Lumumba & Melksham who aren't best 22 players. That said, I'm sure the younger players will do the right thing by each other if we provide them with a good environment in which to go about their business.

Thinking aloud on this further, I'd hazard a guess that at least Hawthorn would care. We'd be level on 13 flags a peace and have also done the 3-peat (twice). They'd no longer have any bragging rights whatsoever. I think once we breakthrough, the Melbourne stigma that has pervaded the competition for so many decades will be quashed. Membership will be up (we'd easily get 50,000 the following year) and all of a sudden, we'd be back considered a 'top' Melbourne club, in the same way Hawthorn have managed to transform themselves since '96 into one of the biggest clubs going around. It'd be Melbourne, Hawthorn, Collingwood, Essendon and Richmond (for reasons unknown). At that point, maybe even Carlton drop out of that top group. Another great thing about our current list and the list of Hawthorn, Collingwood, Essendon, Richmond and Carlton is that only Essendon would come close to matching our level of talent. Their midfield is going to be pretty good in the coming years (McGrath, Parish, Merrett and Heppell). The point here is that we have a big chance to elevate our club to 'big' club status, given the enormous upside in potential members, once the ultimate success has been achieved. Any club that's been through what we've been through in the past 10 years (most clubs would have folded) and still managed to get 40,000 members without making finals, is a club that has resilience and attractive tradition. In many ways we are the sleeping giant of the AFL, with the uniqueness of our brand and our early tradition. And to tap it all off, we have a real chance to dominate these traditionally 'big' clubs in the next 5 or so years due to their relatively weak lists. From the perennial losers between 1965 and the late 1980s, we have a chance to snap this culture and expectation and finally become the club we should be. And perhaps we finally have the right people willing to roll their sleeves up and do the hard work that is needed to win flags and create successful football cultures.

Eddie just received word Max could be back for the Pies game !!

A contender would win the next three games in a row.